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This will not be SocGen’s first foray into Mozam- market disruption stemming from Russia’s inva-
bique’s gas sector, Bloomberg noted. sion of Ukraine in February. The EU is deter-
The French bank has acted previously as mined to reduce Russian gas imports as part of
financial advisor to ENH and served the same its sanctions against Moscow.
function for TotalEnergies and South Afri-
ca’s Gigajoule Group with respect to a project Rovuma LNG FID?
involving a planned LNG import terminal and Tonela, for his part, said on Sunday (April 24)
thermal power plant (TPP) near Mozambique’s that ExxonMobil should be ready to make the
capital city Maputo, the news agency said. FID once TotalEnergies lifts force majeure on its
own. He was speaking after meeting with repre-
LNG plans sentatives of the US super-major while attending
Eni, ENH and their partners – ExxonMobil the spring meetings of the International Mon-
(US), China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), etary Fund (IMF) and World Bank last week,
Galp (Portugal) and Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) according to Bloomberg.
– are working together to develop Area 4, start- “They [ExxonMobil] have already resumed
ing with the Coral gas field, and have built a the process to engage some of the financial insti-
floating LNG (FLNG) unit to liquefy their pro- tutions to ensure that they have financial close,
duction at the rate of 3.4mn tonnes per year the investment decision, in the relatively short-
(tpy). All of the LNG turned out by the vessel, term,” said Tonela, who served as Mozambique’s
which will be the first of its kind in Mozambique, energy minister until his appointment as finance
will be sold to BP (UK) under a 20-year off-take minister last month.
agreement that can be extended for 10 more He also reiterated that rising gas prices pre-
years. sented Mozambique with “an opportunity to
Separatist attacks carried out by Ahlu Sunna fast-track the development of our resources and
Wa-Jamo (ASWJ), an Islamist separatist group, also to ensure that we can provide to the world
in Mozambique’s northernmost Cabo Delgado an alternative source of supply of energy prod-
province, have caused delays for two larger ucts,” Bloomberg noted. ™
LNG projects targeting nearby gas fields in the
Rovuma basin.
TotalEnergies (France), the leader of the
Mozambique LNG consortium, halted work
at its onshore construction site about a year
ago, evacuating all its workers after insurgents
attacked a town just a few kilometres away from
its $20bn, 13mn tpy LNG plant. Meanwhile,
ExxonMobil, the leader of the Rovuma LNG
group, has delayed taking a final investment
decision (FID) on its $30bn, 15mn tpy facility,
partly out of concern over the instability.
Eni’s Coral South LNG project, however, has
been less vulnerable to possible rebel attacks, as
its FLNG-based infrastructure is all offshore.
Despite continued concerns about instability
in northern Mozambique, some observers have
recently suggested that TotalEnergies, Exxon-
Mobil and their partners may soon expedite
work on their LNG projects in light of the energy Coral South LNG will start production at Coral, a field within Area 4 (Image: Galp)

UNOC, Equity Bank agree to

finance development projects

UGANDA UGANDA National Oil Co. (UNOC) and a UNOC to concentrate on environmental con-
local subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc servation, micro, small and medium enterprises
(EGHP) have partnered to facilitate financing (MSMEs) and clean energy-use sectors.
and enterprise development in various sectors “Also financing will be supplied in support of
of the East African country’s economy. farmers, education and training for young peo-
To this end, Equity Bank Uganda signed a ple and more affordable and accessible health
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with systems for all,” UNOC said in a press release.

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